Bed base

ABSTRACT

A base of a bed having two parallel elastic longitudinal bars arranged at a distance from each other, and several grate-shaped cross slats. The ends of the cross slats are pushed into pockets which are fitted on the longitudinal bars, perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction. Each longitudinal bar has at least one fastening band which is fastened perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction and in the direction of the other longitudinal bar. The neighboring cross slat has a button for attaching the fastening band to the cross slat. This structure guarantees stable and non-aging fastening of the cross slats to the longitudinal bars with minimal means and the structure is also easy to assemble.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a support for a bed having parallellongitudinal rails, transverse slats and pockets.

2. Description of Prior Art

For resting comfortably in bed in any position, a bed device mustexercise a support function which can adapt itself to every situation.Conventional beds therefore have a grate of slats with raised resilienttransverse slats. Furthermore, with conventional beds, the constructionof the mattress placed on this slat grate is specially designed.

Moreover, so-called natural beds are known, which have an optimumsupport effect in spite of the use of very thin mattresses or futons.Here, the slat grate of conventional beds is replaced by a plurality oftransverse slats made of solid wood, which rest on longitudinal rails,and which are resilient vertically with respect to their loading andtherefore act as spring bodies.

Thus, European Patent Reference EP-A-0 116 237 discloses a bed device,which has two inflatable longitudinal rails arranged parallel with eachother, in which a series of pockets is arranged tangentially andtransversely with respect to the longitudinal direction. Transverseslats are pushed into these pockets, of which one end is supported inone of the longitudinal rails and the other end in the otherlongitudinal rail. A grate is created which has increased flexibility.Fixing the transverse slats in relation to the longitudinal rails iscontrolled by the lateral walls of the bed frame, if this support isplaced in such a frame. In another variation, a yoke-like structure isprovided, through which the longitudinal rails extend and by means ofwhich the two longitudinal rails are braced against each other. Atransverse slat is also inserted into this yoke-like structure in orderto assure stability. The assembly of this bracing is relativelycomplicated and can therefore often not be performed by the buyer. Butthe variation without bracing is unstable and unsuitable if, forexample, the bed support must be displaced in the course ofhousecleaning, or removed for some other purpose.

European Patent Reference EP-A-0 243 383 also describes a natural bedwith two resilient longitudinal rails made of a foam material or of foamrubber, and a plurality of transverse slats arranged grate-like abovethem. The transverse slats are connected with each other with a clothover the entire surface, which simultaneously fixes the longitudinalrails in place. For this purpose the cloth has pockets at two oppositelylocated longitudinal edges, which are oriented transversely to thelongitudinal direction and in which the ends of the transverse slats areheld. In one variation the longitudinal rails are arranged between thecloth which acts as the covering, in another variation tunnel-like websare fastened on the cloth, into which the longitudinal rails are pushed.Although this structure assures satisfactory stability, it has severaldisadvantages. For one, the cloth acts as a dust collector. Then, theairing of the bed from below is hampered and the tension in the clothrelaxes over time and during use and thus diminishes the stability.

A similar construction of a bed support with resilient longitudinalrails made of a foam material and connected transverse slats made ofwood is shown in German Patent Reference DE-A-39 33 816. Loops,extending transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction, areattached to the longitudinal rails, through which the ends of thetransverse slats are pushed. The transverse slats have grooves forreceiving the loops in order to fix the transverse slats in place withrespect to the longitudinal rails. However, the stability achieved bythis is not sufficient for transport or under generally strong stresseson the bed support, because the loops can be displaced and thereforeremoved from the grooves. The grooves also form weak points of thetransverse slats and therefore potential breaking points. Moreover, thematerial of the loops is stressed more in the area of the grooves, sinceit rubs against the edges of the grooves.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of this invention to provide a bed support whichremoves the above disadvantages, and which furthermore can becost-effectively produced and simply assembled.

This object is attained by the bed support having the characteristicsdiscussed in this specification and in the claims.

In contrast to the fixation ways taught by the prior art, thelongitudinal rails are not fixed in place on each other, nor in thepockets on the transverse slats, but each longitudinal rail is fastenedon individual transverse slats separately from the others. Moreover, astable fixation of the transverse slats and the longitudinal rails inrelation to each other, which is not subject to aging, is assured withminimal means by this construction.

A very stable fixation in place is achieved without requiring a coveringover the entire width of the bed support. The savings in material areconsiderable, so that the production costs are lowered.

Since it is possible to select a relatively short fastening strip, thedanger of material fatigue, and therefore a reduction of the stability,is eliminated.

The fastening strip extends transversely to the transverse slats, and ina preferred embodiment maximally has the width of a single transverseslat. Thus, it is arranged very discreetly and does not interfere withthe appearance. Moreover, no essentially downwardly projecting orhanging elements exist, which could act as dust collectors or whichcould be snagged, for example when vacuuming.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of this invention are shown in the attacheddrawings and will be explained in the following description wherein:

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of a first embodiment of the bed support inaccordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective top view of a portion of the bed support in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective bottom view of a portion of the bed support inFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a lateral view of a portion of a transverse slat with afastening button;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the bed support in accordance with FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a section view taken through a portion of a second embodimentof the bed support in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a portion of a longitudinal side of the bedsupport in accordance with FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A first exemplary embodiment of the bed support in accordance with thisinvention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 5. As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thebed support comprises two resilient or springy longitudinal rails 1 orspring bodies, distanced from and arranged parallel with respect to eachother, and several transverse slats 2, which are arranged in the mannerof a grate transversely in respect to the longitudinal rails 1, rest onthe latter and connect them with each other. The longitudinal rails 1are made of an elastomeric material, preferably of latex, and have atextile cover, preferably natural cotton. They can have any arbitrarycross section which, for example, can be rectangular, as shown. However,they can also have a round or oval shape. The transverse slats 2 arepreferably made of solid wood, for example ash slats, and generally havea thickness of 4 to 15 mm. The transverse slats 2 are at leastapproximately flat.

Pockets 3, which are oriented transversely to the longitudinaldirection, are arranged on the longitudinal rails 1. In this embodiment,the pockets 3 are sewn on a side of the longitudinal rail 1, so thatthey form a lateral extension. In general, the pockets 3 are also madeof a textile material, in particular of woven pure natural fibers, suchas hemp or cotton. The ends of the transverse slats 2 are pushed intothe pockets 3 and are held in them, wherein a portion of the transverseslats 2 projecting out of the pockets 3 rests on the longitudinalrails 1. Because the pockets 3 are attached on one side of thelongitudinal rails 1, a loop band 4 is fastened on the opposite side ofthe longitudinal rail 1, which extends in the longitudinal direction andthrough whose loops the transverse slats 2 are extended.

At least one fastening means 5 is connected with each longitudinal rail1, which has a connecting means and a fastening strip 52, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 5. The fastening strip 52 is oriented toward the otherlongitudinal rail 1 and extends in the transverse direction. Preferablythe fastening strip 52 is also made of a textile material, for examplewoven natural fibers. In another embodiment, not shown, the fasteningstrip 52 is fastened directly to the longitudinal rail 1. However,preferably and as shown, a connecting means is provided, which iseffective over a distance of at least three transverse slats 2 and inthis way distributes tensile forces acting through the fastening strip52 over this distance. The connecting means has two fastening loops 50,attached spaced apart from each other to the longitudinal rails 1, whichare made of textile strips, for example woven cotton, and of aconnecting bolt 51, which is pushed through the fastening loops 50. Thefastening strip 52 loops around a center area of the connecting bolt 51which is not covered by the fastening loops 50. The manufacture andassembly of the fastening means is simplified by this construction.Moreover, the fastening strip 52 can be made narrower, even if the forcedistribution to the longitudinal rails 1 takes place over a large area.Therefore the width of the fastening strip 52 preferably correspondsmaximally to one transverse slat 2. The length is between 8 and 20 cm,preferably approximately 14 cm.

The fastening strip 52 has a button hole, through which a fasteningbutton 20 attached to the transverse slat 2 extends. The fastening strip52 is fastened in this way on the transverse slat 2, and eachlongitudinal rail 1 is fixed, separate from the other longitudinal rail,with respect to the transverse slats 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fastening button 29 preferably is of a woodendowel, which is driven into the transverse slat 2 and has a projectinghead.

The fastening strip 52 and the fastening button 20 are arranged on theunderside of the bed support, i.e. facing away from the surface forlying. Preferably two or more fastening strips 52 with separateconnecting means are arranged at a distance from each other on eachlongitudinal rail 1, wherein each fastening strip 52 is assigned its ownfastening button 20. Moreover, an adjoining fastening strip of theoppositely located rail 1 exists for each fastening strip 52, whoseassociated fastening button 20 is placed on the same transverse slat 2as the fastening button 20 of the first fastening strip 52.

A second embodiment of the bed support of this invention is shown inFIG. 6. Here, two slat grates are provided, which are formed by a set ofupper transverse slats 2' and a set of lower transverse slats 2. Theupper transverse slats 2' are generally embodied to be thinner andtherefore more flexible than the lower transverse slats 2. Typicalthickness of the upper transverse slats 2' is 4 to 8 mm, and of thelower transverse slats is 10 to 12 mm.

Again, two resilient longitudinal rails 1 are provided, which connectthe transverse slats 2, 2' with each other. Here, the longitudinal rails1 have an L-shaped cross section and in this way form a right angle. Thepockets 3 for receiving the ends of the upper transverse slats 2' areattached to a front face of short legs 12 and rest on the front face.Thus, the upper transverse slats 2' rest on the front face of the shortleg 12. The lower transverse slats 2 rest on the inside of the long leg13 and extend through the longitudinal rails 1. The longitudinal rail 1with a partially opened zipper of the textile cover 10 is shown in FIG.7. As shown in FIG. 7, the longitudinal rail 1 has two solid body cores11, which are arranged on top of each other and are enclosed in thetextile cover 10 and between which the ends of the lower transverse slat2 are pushed. Moreover, a loop band 4 is fastened on the inside of thelong leg 13, through which the lower transverse slats 2 extend.

The assembly and changing of the lower transverse slats 2' is madeeasier by means of this construction, since they can be pulled out ofthe longitudinal rail 1 without bending.

The fastening strip 52 is fastened by the connecting means on the frontface of the long leg 13. The fastening buttons 20 are attached to anunderside of at least one lower transverse slat 2.

Depending on the width of the bed or the desired firmness of the bedsupport, at least one resilient spacing or support rail 6, extending inthe longitudinal direction and preferably having a rectangular or ovalcross section, and which essentially has the same structure as thelongitudinal rails 1, but does not have pockets 3, is provided betweenthe lower and upper transverse slats 2, 2'. For fastening on thetransverse slats 2, in this case the lower transverse slats 2, thesupport rail has a loop band 60, which extends at least approximatelyover the entire length, and through which loops the lower transverseslats 2 pass.

So that the at least one support rail 6 is not displaced from itsposition and therefore does not negatively affect the comfortable rest,it is fastened in the embodiment shown here on the lower transverseslats 2 by means of a fastening strip 61 having at least one buttonhole. These second fastening strips 61 comprise a textile material andare fastened on the loop band 60, preferably in a woven fashion. Asshown, the second fastening strips 61 are suspended from the fasteningbuttons 20 used for fixing the longitudinal rails 1 in place, or fromseparate fastening buttons.

If one support rail 6 is provided, it is fastened on both ends on thefastening buttons 20 via the second fastening strips 61. If several, inparticular two support rails 6 are provided, in one embodiment only theoutside support rails 6 are connected on their side facing thelongitudinal rails 1 with the closest fastening button via the secondfastening strip 61. To prevent displacement in the other direction, thesupport rails 6 are connected with each other by means of fixedlyarranged or releasable strips.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a bed support having two resilientlongitudinal rails (1) arranged spaced apart and parallel with respectto each other, and a plurality of transverse slats (2) arranged in agrate-like manner, wherein a plurality of pockets (3) which are orientedtransversely with respect to a longitudinal direction and into which arepositioned ends of the transverse slats (2) are arranged on thelongitudinal rails (1), and wherein at least one fastening means (5) forfixing the transverse slats (2) and the longitudinal rails (1) in placein relation to each other is connected with each of the longitudinalrails (1), the improvement comprising:at least one fastening strip (52)attached on each of the longitudinal rails (1) transversely with respectto the longitudinal direction and oriented toward the other one of thelongitudinal rails (1), and a fastening button (20) on a nearest of thetransverse slats (2) fastening the fastening strip (52) on thetransverse slat (2).
 2. In the bed support in accordance with claim 1,further comprising connecting means for connecting the fastening strip(52) to the longitudinal rail (1) which are effective over a distance ofat least three of the transverse slats (2).
 3. In the bed support inaccordance with claim 2, wherein the connecting means comprise twofastening loops (50) spaced apart in the longitudinal direction andattached to the longitudinal rails (1), a connecting bolt (51) passingthrough the fastening loops (50), and the fastening strip (52) attachedto a center area of the connecting bolt (51) between the fastening loops(50).
 4. In the bed support in accordance with claim 1, wherein the twofastening strips (52) are arranged spaced apart from each other and areprovided on each of the longitudinal rails (1).
 5. In the bed support inaccordance with claim 1, wherein one of the fastening strip (52) and thefastening strips of one of the longitudinal rails (1) is arrangedopposite one of the fastening strips of the second longitudinal rail,and the associated fastening buttons (20) are attached to the sametransverse slat (2).
 6. In the bed support in accordance with claim 1,wherein a first width of the fastening strip (52) maximally correspondsto a second width of the transverse slat (2).
 7. In the bed support inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the fastening strip (52) is arranged onan underside of the bed support.
 8. In the bed support in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the pockets (3) form a lateral extension of thelongitudinal rails (1) so that the transverse slats (2) projecting outof the pockets (3) rest on the longitudinal rails (1).
 9. In the bedsupport in accordance with claim 1, wherein upper and lower slats of thetransverse slats (2, 2') are respectively arranged in a grate-likemanner between the longitudinal rails (1), the longitudinal rails (1)each has an L-shaped cross section, the upper slats (2') are supportedon front faces of a short leg (12) of the longitudinal rails (1), andthe lower slats (2) rest on an inside of a long leg (13), wherein a loopband (4) extending in the longitudinal direction is arranged at the endof the long leg (13) for receiving the lower transverse slats (2), andthe fastening buttons (20) for fastening the fastening strips (52) arearranged on the lower slats (2).
 10. In the bed support in accordancewith claim 9, wherein at least one resilient support rail (6) extendingin the longitudinal direction is arranged between the lower slats (2)and the upper slats (2'), which has a loop band (60) for passingtransverse slats (2) through, and the at least one support rail (2) isfastened on the fastening buttons (20) of the lower transverse slats (2)via second fastening strips (61).